How did Munich pull off those surprising Best Picture nominations (Picture, Director, Screenplay) after getting shut out with the guilds and BAFTA and being generally up against the wall? I think it came down to Universal spending a shitload of money on advertising. Oscar prognosticator Pete Hammond believes that “spending was certainly a big factor…you saw pretty much a nonstop TV campaign over the last week or two…that`Drudge Report rumor that Universal wasn’t supporting it enough was obviously totally wrong…newspaper ads, trade ads…plus the influence of Oscar consultant Tony Angellotti…the amped-up Munich campaign began a couple of weeks ago was like a wide release. That was certainly a big factor. And you can’t underestimate the power of Steven Spielberg and what the town thinks of him…and the movie was a late bloomer. The Academy was one of the few organizations that really saw it in strength.”
